Vikki Blake – Tychus Findlay – Jen Hawkins – Joseph Haygood – Krista Hiner – Tanya Horne – Mitu Khandaker – Tom Mackenzie – Tabitha Wang
Vikki Blake (Editor-in-Chief)
I was never really the kind of girl who played dollies or dress-up. While other girls were falling in love with soap stars and Bros, I was falling in love with gaming. I got lost in Hyrule. I kicked ass in Street Fighter. I had inappropriate dreams about Solid Snake, became obsessed with the gorgeously grim environments of Silent Hill and am still kind of addicted to Guitar Hero.
I’ve grown up with a particular penchant for survival horror, but I’ll turn my hand to pretty much anything. Does that mean I’m a 1337 pro gamer? Um, my kill:death ratio would suggest otherwise. But I firmly believe that you don’t have to have 1337 skills (or even know what 1337 means) to enjoy video games. To me, it’s my passion – or an obsession. Either word suffices.
Whilst I love music, video games, books and all things geek, other indulgences include Ben & Jerrys ice-cream (Cookie Dough or Dublin Mudslide, please), strong tea (made in a pot and not in the mug), gin (with tonic), chocolate (any way it’s given), doctors (naked), talking too much, complaining and swearing profusely.
In addition to running GGS.com, I also write for other places – including the ridiculously fabulous Ginx TV – and run the biggest Silent Hill site/forum in the world, Silenthillheaven.com. I’m also an avid collector of video game tees.
Joseph Haygood (Deputy Editor)
I have always been a gamer, for as far back as I can remember (and that is a loooong way back). I remember when I begged and pleaded for an Atari 2600 with Space Invaders and found it under the Christmas tree. I was amazed at the idea that I could play arcade-style games without the need for quarters.
However, the Atari was just my entry point, as I soon found myself in a love affair with computers. I had devoured books on programming, and at one point, while in a Radio Shack, I decided on a whim to pick up Wizardry and Starflight. I was flabbergasted by the sheer amount of detail packed into the density of two floppy discs. Starflight packed in a universe of content that had me playing the game for a total of 400 hours (I was nerdy enough to track my time in a notebook before Raptr showed up). I continued forward, constantly upgrading my computer for the latest and greatest toys, to play the newest stuff, and even expanded back into consoles with the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and a PSP.
As for some of my favorites, I would have to point back to Starflight, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Space Quest I-IV, Leisure Suit Larry I-V, Duke Nukem 3D, DiRT 2 and Beyond Good and Evil. I have been an eclectic gamer by trade, and find myself dabbling with all the different genres that are out there.
As for my ventures outside of gaming, I can be found writing for Aeropause Games from time to time, reading tons of science fiction novels, watching the worst movies on Netflix and spending time with my wife and son.
Tabitha Wang (News Editor & Community Manager)
Oh golly, where do I start? I wore the coke bottle glasses in school, probably from sitting in front of the TV and trying to beat Life Force and Donkey Kong Country before finishing my math and spelling homework in grade school. I often had…er, “fantasies” about Link (don’t all the girls like this guy? He’s a HUNK!), and I knew Nobuo Uematsu’s music faster than I could recognize anything playing on the radio. I grew up on Castlevania, the old Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest (back when it was Dragon Warrior), and never really wanted to let the controller go. I mean, Mom and I had a fight over who got to play Symphony of the Night first, fresh out the package! On top of all that, I will be more than happy to sit down with somebody and have a heart-to-heart talk about anything gaming related! Latest trends? What did you think of the AI in that one game? And how about those multiplayer games? Or that one guy who just wouldn’t stop head shotting everybody?
While I do tend to shy away from playing online with people, that doesn’t mean I won’t give it a try once in a while. First and foremost, I’m there to enjoy the game. It just happens that most of these days, people tend to ruin that experience by being complete MEANIES online. So please, don’t be mean, because there are those of us who are playing just to enjoy, and not to see who’s got the best score or who’s the best in the arena. Okay?
When I’m not signed on to my Box (as it might be spotty for the next couple of months), I’m more than likely going to be found wandering around my neighborhood taking photos and enjoying the scenery, at the library with my nose stuck in a book, at culinary school (FOOOOOOOOD!!!), or in the kitchen making something delicious. Well, sometimes it’s delicious. Sometimes it turns out into a jiggling mess and it ends up in compost.
Krista Hiner (Staff Writer)
Growing up, I always preferred my Game Boy and Game Gear to dolls. I argued with my brother over whose turn it was to use the Playstation and begged him to let me play MarioKart on his N64. Sometimes–on special occasions–my parents would even rent an SNES from the local video store and we would play Donkey Kong Country in harmony for hours. Ah, the memories.
Throughout the years my gaming interests have expanded without necessarily changing. I still have an NES in my living room that I hook up and play regularly. (For example, every time I am sick I play through Legend of Zelda. It’s pretty therapeutic.) But I also play on my 360, the Wii, and my first gaming PC which I built earlier this year.
My favorite games incorporate puzzles, like the Portal series, or are survival horror. I still fire up Left 4 Dead 2 regularly and I loved every second of my heart racing through Amnesia: the Dark Descent. But I also love dungeon crawlers, MMO’s and many, many others. I look at games like I do books or movies: I don’t prefer one genre to the exclusion of others. I firmly believe that with the right writing, plot, and team behind it, the product can be spectacular regardless of genre.
When I’m not gaming, I work as an attorney in the Midwest. When I’m not doing that, I can usually be found bicycling around the city, at a local music venue, or tucked away in a nearby coffee shop reading books that were “nerdy” when I was young but suddenly became “cool” in my twenties.
Roger Broomfield (Staff Writer)
I can’t remember much about my gaming origins, but I do remember that back when I played the Playstation, the only good games were Croc and Road Rash. It’s been over a good decade since then, but I’m essentially still that seven year old boy, smashing buttons and knocking people off moving motorcycles.
As a Philosophy student and a born sceptic, there are only two things that I can be sure of in this life – that Final Fantasy IX is the perfect video game, and that courtesy of yours truly, Mountain Dew make a profit year in, year out.
It’s also worth mentioning that genre wise, I’m a polygamist, and that enjoying the game is far more important than being good at it. I know that I’ll never be anywhere near as good at Street Fighter as half the Japanese population, but it won’t stop me getting my ass handed to me with a big smile on my face.
Besides gaming and writing, I study numerous martial arts, enjoy loud music, run long distances for no apparent reason, drop Anchorman quotes in everyday conversation and harass fellow writer Tom Mackenzie on Xbox Live. It’s a wonderful life.
Tanya Horne (Staff Writer)
For my fourth birthday my parents bought me an Atari 2600 Junior; it had quite a few dents which supposedly had something to do with the fact it was obtained from a shop called ‘back of a lorry’. Before too long my life revolved around Space Invaders and Asteroids. Well, until I found a SNES under the Christmas tree one year later that is. The
rest, as they say, is history.
More than twenty years later I thankfully remain a video game nerd. During that time I’ve come to realise I’m a true RPG lover at heart, with the FPS and Beat ‘em up genres coming a close second. My favourite all time games include the Star Ocean series, Tomb Raider II, Goldeneye 64 and Golden Sun GBA.
When I don’t have a games controller in hand you can find me either watching Star Trek, eating sushi or following the murky world of politics in my spare time. I also have a life-long crush on Richard Dean Anderson and make a mean cottage pie when I can be coaxed into the kitchen.
Tom “Beans” Mackenzie (Staff Writer)
I was born with a controller in my hands. Not technically true, but as soon as I was old enough to grasp a controller I did, and I haven’t let go since. Over the years I saw my consoles change as I did, from the Playstation 1, to the Playstation 2 , Xbox, to the Xbox 360, and of course my Nintendo 64 to the Gamecube. I still play on nearly all the consoles, but I have to say my Nintendo 64 and Gamecube do hold a very dear place in my heart, for sheer retro quality.
I can associate many fond memories with gaming. Such as encouraging my dad play the original Tomb Raider, and being to scared by the butler on the training mission to even watch. And more recently, spending countless drunken summer nights with my mates, huddled round a screen and shouting at each other because someone just beat me at Super Smash Bros Melee with Jigglypuff, outrageous I know (Kirby FTW).
In terms of game genres I’ll give anything a shot. There is literally nothing I won’t unleash some sort of fury upon if necessary. After all, isn’t that what gaming’s about?
Other than all that, I do rather enjoy the simple things in life, chilling with mates, watching TV, drinking copious amounts of cider, all that stuff parent’s tell you to do less of. I also love writing about games, if there are people willing to hear what I have to say, then why not say it? Anyway that’s me, now if you wouldn’t mind I have a very pressing issue to see to, I think my mate just killed me on Call of Duty…
Tychus Findlay (Staff Writer)
Much like its title character was transported to another time, “Buck Rogers and the Planet of Zoom” for the Coleco Adam was my gateway into the myriad realms of video gaming. It was a few years later that I was immersed in the original post-apocalyptic RPG. I spent years playing Wasteland on an Apple IIc, trying to conquer the Scorpitron of Vegas and get through the brutal Guardian Citadel to the delicious Power Armor held within.
That pretty much sums up how I play games today. I’ll play just about anything from a good, well-paced FPS or shmup, to an in-depth RPG. And I love completing side quests. Sometimes that means never finishing the main storyline (like in Oblivion) even after hundreds of hours, but that’s just fine with me.
I also dabble in MMORPGs. I’ve had a max-level WoW character for years and usually check out betas and trials of all the new MMOs coming out.
Oddly enough, I sometimes end up WATCHING some games more than I play them. This is certainly the case with Starcraft II, and I enjoy watching all sorts of eSports tournaments from Halo to League of Legends.
Mitu Khandaker (Contributing Columnist)
Hi, I’m Mitu, and I belong to that curious breed of people known as ‘video game academics’. That is, I’m currently pursuing a PhD researching crazy, experimental new control mechanisms (see my personal site for more info), and like to think about solving difficult problems regarding our interactions with games.
As is probably blindingly apparent, I am a huge video games nerd, and have been as long as I remember, though particularly since the days of my hand-me-down Master System II and obsession with Alex Kidd. These days, I play any and all genres, though especially both love & lament the Gears of War series, FIFA, and have a recent unexplained penchant for parkour-type games.
Aside from playing games, I also enjoy designing games, and talking about them to anyone who will listen; whilst I believe games are awesome, I also seriously believe in play as one of the most important values that we all share as humans, and I hope to one day make video games to make the world a more awesome place.
Aside from gaming, I also dabble in many other bastions of nerdom, including throwing around dice-with-too-many-sides, and nurturing my nascent interest in graphic novels. I also enjoy travelling, undertaking crazy physical endeavours, working on my ridiculous number of secret projects, and learning new things.
Jen Hawkins (Contributor)
Between mastering use of the B52 sized VHS player at 3, to then picking up the Sega Mega Drive controller for the first time at 5, I sold my young soul to gaming and never looked back. Now, fully matured (at least physically) and armed with a cup of steaming strong tea, I divide my time between my two passions, Gaming and Film.
As a youngster, I discovered the force that would stand tall as my gaming Mecca: Survival Horror. From first playing the Silent Hill demo, that came packaged as a deadly little extra with Metal Gear Solid, to hiding behind my Dad as he played Resident Evil for the first time. Both experiences left me a gibbering wreck under the duvet, but as though suffering from a terminal case of Stockholm Syndrome I kept coming back for more, now to the extent of shaking my head bitterly because Homecoming wasn’t scary enough. I will generally play a range of different genres, from the Free-Roam adventures of GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, rocking out to Joan Jett on Rock Band, to Stealth action titles like Splinter Cell. I am also very much into the co-op and multiplayer side of gaming, from Resident Evil 5 to Left 4 Dead, thought it can expose a fiercely competitive dimension to my personality that swears a lot and hates to lose!
My other interests include music, reading a range of literature, writing short fictions and articles, wearing big boots and having a damn good party! My main vices are my fondness for booze, Marlboro cigarettes, pizza, the word ‘Bollocks’ followed by my filthy laugh!
Additional writers/contributors
Patricia Ryniak | Tracey McGarrigan
You? (Wannabe GGSer)
We’re always looking for new contributors to join us here at GGS.com. If you are 18+, have a keen interest in gaming, great written skills and the time commitment to contribute regularly (we’re looking for at least five articles a week), we’d love to hear from you!
Whilst we’re not exclusively an all-female staff, we are particularly keen to recruit and promote female writers.
Working at GGS.com is currently unpaid – bummer, we know. That said, it’s not without its rewards; we have long-standing, established industry links in both the US and the UK and access many of the perks and privileges of the gaming press including snazzy event invites and review codes. Not to mention your writing will be read by fellow gaming enthusiasts and industry insiders alike – not too shabby, eh?
Sounds like this might be the right place for you? Get in touch via our contact form explaining why you’d like to join us, coupled with a few examples of your writing. Who knows – you could soon be part of the GGS.com team!
Recent Comments